


(Porter Gage) Chaos Personified

by MemoriaMente



Series: Paradise in a Wasteland [3]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Nuka World, Overboss - Freeform, gage - Freeform, porter gage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 15:31:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15076193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriaMente/pseuds/MemoriaMente
Summary: This is going to be different from the other stories I have in my series Paradise in a Wasteland. It will feature my Overboss, Charlotte, my original female character. In this will be several excerpts into the life of Charlotte, and some smut will be included in further chapters. Hope you enjoy it!





	(Porter Gage) Chaos Personified

Charlotte wasn’t always this way. 

At one point in time, she was a new mother, a loving wife, a successful writer for The Boston Bugle. Nate was back from his military service for good, and they were planning on spending some time together before he looked for a new job, before Charlotte was back at work, and Codsworth would take care of her beautiful baby boy, Shaun. They were all a happy family. Charlotte would spend hours with Nate, listening to The Silver Shroud, Nate would imitate the Silver Shroud’s voice to little Shaun, who would laugh, and laugh and laugh at his father’s silly voice.

Charlotte still remembers those days like they were yesterday. The days her and Nate would wake up with a fresh cup from a Slocum Joe ‘s coffee tin, courtesy of Codsworth, and a nice sugar bomb cereal breakfast, before she’d spend all afternoon with with Shaun in her arms. She’d watch television programs with him with the occasional silly face, that’d make Shaun giggle that beautiful, infant laugh she loved so much. She never liked putting him down for long, regardless of her mother in law’s opinion of holding a baby too long in its infancy. She loved her baby boy, she loved her darling husband, and she loved the life they had built with each other.

But that was all gone, in the blink of an eye. The bombs dropped, destroying homes, lives, careers, civilization, leaving a broken memory of what America used to be, destroying the American household and the American dream….It was all gone.

Now those happy memories haunted Charlotte. They left her awake at night. She could hear Shaun’s giggle in the back of her mind as she tossed and turned in her lumpy, old mattress, haunted by the fact that her precious baby boy had been taken from her, and she had been robbed off his childhood, robbed of her right as Shaun’s mother. The memories of Nate doing his bad Silver Shroud impressions caused her to chuckle when she was all alone at night, sitting by herself, unable to bring herself back to bed, but her chuckle would always be broken by the impending sadness that would hit her, and she’d double over and cry.

No mercy. Not for this Wasteland. All she had loved had been ripped from her, All the hard work she had put in pre-war...It meant nothing now, as she was forced to rebuild a life as a broken soul, looking for salvation, but after searching, she realized salvation wasn’t her goal, it was chaos. 

Chaos against this cursed Wasteland, the ruins of America that had caused her such grief and devastation. 

It was six o’clock at night. Charlotte was currently pondering her past life, like she always did when she had a moment alone to reflect. Her gloved fingers traced the outline of her lips, wondering what it’d be like to genuinely smile again, how it’d feel like, wondering if it’d ever happen for her again, but she doubted it. Her happiness was stolen long ago, while she was stuck in the damned cryopod as her son lived on without her until he was much, much older than her, and much, much different than she and Nate had hoped he’d be, corrupted by the organization who ripped him from her dead husband’s arms. 

“You ready, Boss?” Gage’s words spoke as she sat on the yellow chair to the right in front of Fizztop Grille’s Patio kitchen. She had asked him earlier to talk to her once he restocked his Gear Shop, and so here he was, ready to barter. He knew now was definitely not the best time to ask, but he felt she should be aware of his presence before she truly believed she was alone, and continued to let her sorrow get the best of her. She had no idea he had been here this whole time, and tried to remember how much of her grief she had given away sitting here. She cried so much in her lonesome she forgot that Gage lived just behind the set of blue doors behind her, she turned to him with a sullen expression.

“Sneak up on me like that again, Gage, and you regret it,” she spoke in her harsh, low voice, wearing a snarl on her porcelain face as her green eyes, brightly illuminated by the outside light, held his steady gaze, a sharp contrast from the black, diamond-shaped black paint around her eyes. 

Gage leaned against the counter behind them in the growing darkness of the room, he tilted his head to the side and watched her intently. He knew her threat was meaningless, he knew she would never kill him, but he also knew this wasn’t the time to bother her, so he let it go, turning towards the blue doors, but before he left, he hesitated, he stopped in his tracks, and turned to speak to her, but before he could, he heard the wracking sob that had left Charlotte’s mouth. It alerted him, he’d never heard her make such a noise before, she sounded like she was in physical pain, leaning forward in her chair as she convulsed with the powerful cry that left her mouth, gripping her chest as she shivered in her seat, shaking with every breath. 

Gage wasn’t used to this, not at all. He watched her, illuminated by the setting sun as she broke down in front of him, he’d never seen any of his bosses break down like this, and normally, he’d allow his distaste for feelings and speaking about them get the best of him, and he’d leave them, but Charlotte….She had always been different. She didn’t have to say much to him for him to understand how she was feeling, how her decision would be swayed, and she was the most compliant to his suggestions. She had never treated him like he was a slave instead of a friend, like Colter ended up doing, bossing him around, losing the value of friendship he had formed with him, no, she was different. 

Despite her harsh, cruel exterior, her undoubted prowess making his boss’s from the past look like idiotic wimps, she was by far the easiest to interact with, and he wasn’t sure why. She had always ruled with a firm, iron fist, had always proven herself to be the best Overboss he’d ever seen, but something about her had always struck a chord with him, drawing him to her in times and instances he’d never expect he’d be drawn towards in the past, but again….She was different. She was the exception, even if he didn’t want to tell her that himself. No, he’d keep that to himself, it wasn’t like him to speak about his feelings, and it wasn’t like her, either. She never told him what exactly kept her up at night, hell, she probably didn’t know he could see it in her eyes whenever they spoke after she had a few hours of alone time, but he always knew she had spent her free time reminiscing on the past. She had never clued him into her past, but something told him she would eventually, and even if she didn’t, he understood her pain.

He was reluctant to say anything, so he decided not to. He sat on the yellow chair to the left of her, in between them the dusty, aged end table with a broken lamp distanced them, and he sat with her, keeping silent, knowing she didn’t want his sympathy, yet he also knew she didn’t want to be alone. 

He sucked in a breath and closed his eye, his arms on the wooden arm rests, hands loosely hanging off the ends as he felt the warmth of the setting sun on his face as he sat with her. Her cries calmed down, he could hear her pull herself together, but he knew she wouldn’t say a word. He knew she couldn’t, he could hear the knot that had formed in her throat.

Something slid across his right hand, and his eye snapped open, he quickly looked at what had touched him, finding she had leaned over, her gloved hand on his, her fingers entwining in his as she hid her face, her right hand covered her grief-stricken face, and he didn’t push her away, he didn’t let her hand go. Instead, he squeezed it reassuringly in his grasp, knowing she valued him, and truth be told, he valued her, too, even if he didn’t have the right words to tell her right now, but he knew she didn’t need words. She didn’t want to hear anything but silence, she was comforted by his presence alone, and that was good enough for the both of them. He helped her remember what truly mattered, all without having to say a single word.  
\--  
Gage and Charlotte did not speak of the moment they had last night. After an hour of sitting together, she removed her gloved hand from his and stood up, her hand scratching absently at the shaved portion of her head before brushing the deep, red locks that remained, tucking the short strands behind her ear. She didn’t even once look him in the eye, she merely rolled her lips inwards, sucking in a breath as the black lipstick she wore seemed to fade by the action, and with a quick shake of her head, she walked to her bed, and retired for the evening. 

He didn’t say a word, either, just went to his bed,and spent the entire night staring up at the ceiling, wondering what was up with Charlotte, questioning why the hell he cared so much to know, but he knew why. He just didn’t know how to deal with these newfound feelings. He’d never had them for anyone before, he had made his peace with never finding someone who shared his same ideals, he never expected to find Charlotte in this fucked up world. Every Raider he had almost fallen for in the past ended up being a junkie, or an alcoholic, or ended up getting themselves in unfixable situations from their own impulsivity, and he didn’t like that, no, he wasn’t like most raiders who thrived on living in the moment. He was savvy enough to keep himself alive this whole time by holding his tongue when he knew it’d be in his best interest, whispering behind the ear of his superiors to get his way without falling into the firefight, staying away from substances that had destroyed even the strongest men and women he’d ever met, destroying their image, rendering them weak. 

He also never found himself falling for anyone who wasn’t a Raider, wasn’t interested in settlers or wastelanders or scavvers who couldn’t stand up for themselves against a Raider attack. He left that life of fear behind when he was only twelve years old, escaping from parents who allowed themselves to be walked over instead of taking charge, and he never wanted to be around someone who allowed themselves to be a victim, but Charlotte was….Different. She did not make impulsive, unwise decisions, she did not ingest chems or alcohol of any sort, she had a clear head, although troubled she was quick to see the flaws in impulsivity, and in abuse of power, so she always kept her rule of Nuka World as sharp and collected as possible, and he respected the hell out of that. He knew she had troubles, baggage from the past she would never be able to shake off, but not once did she ever let herself fall from power due to those past problems, no, she kept a leveled head, she never allowed anyone to fuck with her, and she was strong because she knew she had to be. That made her stronger than anyone he’d ever known, pushing past devastation to keep herself from being picked off like every other settler begging for help in the Wasteland. She went through hell and back, but it couldn’t keep her down, couldn’t keep her subservient. No, she fueled herself off of her past, disallowing any harm to come to herself ever again from her past mistakes, and although it wasn’t the most organized way to go about things, he respected her dedication, and he knew she wasn’t going to betray him or anyone else here, ever. He trusted her, and he trusted her mentality, because she was not like the other raiders he’d ever met before. 

He no longer saw her as the Vault Dweller who had stumbled through the gauntlet, but the hell-bent woman who shot down Colter without even a second thought, fueled by her irritation at his pompous and domineering attitude. He saw her as the Raider they both knew she had the capacity to become, and she thrived on the title just as he did. They were smarter than the average raiders, and he fancied her for it. He had watched in admiration as she took each and every park, and although he wanted to say he helped her through it all, he was quite aware she did all of this on her own, single-handedly, effortlessly, and he wondered how doomed he was to fall for someone quite like her. He remembered The Legend of Atlas, and he saw her as Hope, and he knew one wrong move against her, and she’d fulfill that legacy. She was strong and courageous enough to.

\--

As she lay in her bed, awake obviously, she could not sleep after the mental trauma that had reoccurred in her troubled head, causing her to show her weakness to Gage, her right-hand man. She wondered why she took his hand, wondered why she’d seek out comfort from the man after remembering why it was exactly she kept people at a distance. She was not ready to lose someone again, so perhaps keeping Gage at a distance was the best course of action, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t.

Gage wasn’t like anyone else she had met before. Out of all of the friends she had made in The Commonwealth, even her closest allies, none of them truly understood her like Gage, and he knew the least about her. After running from The Commonwealth after destroying The Institute, she had come to Nuka World to hide from the new civilization she had created. It left her empty, it destroyed her, and although everyone she had worked with told her they supported her, she merely felt used, a tool used to take down The Institute, tearing down the organization ran by the young infant she once cradled in her arms, the child she had sworn to protect from anything. She had been the one to end his life, and if that wasn’t enough, she tore down his hopes and dreams, for people who still complained about all the hard work she had put in to somehow forgive herself of her crimes. No settlement was ever good enough for them, no work she had put in was ever appreciated, she was overworked, and underplayed, a puppeteer for the factions she had sworn to help. 

Fuck them. They didn’t care about what they had made her do, no, they only cared to reap the rewards. They were no better than the Raiders she had trusted here in Nuka World, and in a way, this was the world she craved, this was the leadership she could allow herself to have, because here, there were no true lies. Everything was predictable for her, everything was…..Right.

Chaos and destruction in one little, beautiful theme park. There were no haunting memories here, just the ones she had been unable to shake from her head since she’d woken up. This was a new frontier for her, a fresh, beautiful beginning. What more could a grieving, vengeful soul wish for? Even after she’d taken over Settlements, she found herself trusting these Raiders like they were her own family, understanding her rage, and what she was capable of, and respecting her leadership, all with the help of Gage, who believed in her from the beginning, and even through the hard moments she’d had, the things he’d been in her company to witness, he stayed by her, unwavering, understanding in every decision she’d made, and helping nudge her in the right direction if her decision was fruitless. 

He wasn’t the average Raider, no, he was smart, collected, tactical, and…..She found herself admiring him for all he’d helped her accomplish, for guiding her according to her ideals, instead of allowing her to hurt herself in the process like the others did. No, Gage understood in her enough to know that deception would send her into a rage, and so she trusted it’d never cross his mind. If she did not trust him at first, she always trusted his level-head, his logical thinking. Besides his rough, sexy voice, and his wonderfully toned, fit body, he was sexy in an intellectual way she never expected him to be, but he thrived on laying low, thrived on allowing people to believe he wasn't smart enough to play them. No matter how harsh and unforgiving the man was, she couldn't help but agree with his logic, and she greatly admired that about him. She thought good things about him often, but never once had she allowed herself to say them out loud, in fear she'd be desecrating her deceased husband. 

Gage wasn’t like Nate. No, Nate was a righteous do-gooder, even to the point where it seemed foolish, and she never saw Nate allowing such corruption to befall his mind, he was never that way. He was always a good soldier, always talked about doing the right thing, benefiting the greater good. He would have gunned down all these people, had he discovered it instead of her, had he survived instead of her. She loved Nate, and she found herself missing him from time to time, but Nate would never love the woman she had become, would never trust the same people she’d grown to trust, and she was alright with that. Nate would not understand in this evil transformation, but she loved it, she revelled in it, and there was no way she’d turn back now, even if it meant her husband was frowning down upon her, if a heaven did exist after all, but in her head, heaven did not. Only Hell, and she was living in it: Everyone who survived in the ruins of America was. 

When she was not grieving on the past, who she used to be, who she used to love….She loved this Hell on Earth. She loved living in it, and she loved this newfound chaotic nature she had welcomed as her own.

She loved her minions, her demons on Earth. She was a fallen angel, and she was delighted to rule this Kingdom, and she was delighted to rule alongside Gage, and although she wanted to stay away from him, to save herself the heartache, she felt herself gravitating towards him more and more, their silent conversations speaking wonders, and she truly knew that the man understood her more than her Commonwealth friends. More than her deceased husband. He did not condemn her for her atrocities, no, he supported her through them, through the evil she had created, and through the chaos she was awaiting to create. 

She didn’t tell him this, but the moment they had shared earlier was enough to reassure her of her place, it reminded her of who she was, and who trusted in her. It reminded her what she cared for in this fucked up world, and that the past, was the past, for a damn good reason.

Nuka World. Porter Gage. The Disciples. The Pack. The Operators. The places she had conquered, the places she had cursed with her steady vengeance, alongside Gage…..

They were her present, and her future, and that was all that mattered. 

Nate. Shaun. Sanctuary Hills, her steady job….That was all in the past. And she realized, with her newfound, firm grip on reality, it had no place dictating her future. It was time to bury her past, once and for all. 


End file.
